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Interview: Circle Takes the Square

Circle Takes the Square is back in the picture after a few years of inactivity. They’re touring Europe from July 24th until August 9th with Full of Hell and Code Orange Kids. We caught up with Drew Speziale on their time off, future endeavors and expectations. Check it all in the below interview.

“Greetings. We’re in a band called Circle Takes The Square. Our members currently reside in the U.S. and Canada. We are coming to Europe in July and August to make some noise and howl at the moon a little bit. We hope to see you there.”

How come CTtS is back in the picture (multiple tours/new release) after a few years of inactivity.

“After a few years of mainly focusing on our personal lives, with occasional CTTS writing sessions here and there, we eventually heard the call to bring our musical pursuits into the light of day once again. Hence, the Circle was reborn.”

Why was the 4-track EP series not finished, and straight away turned into a full length album?

“We debated the final format of the “Decompositions: Volume Number One” material for quite awhile, and discussed several different scenarios before settling on releasing both Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 together as a 2xLP. We had, at some point, discussed releasing each chapter individually as you mentioned, but after a limited tour-edition CD of Chapter 1, we decided to combine 1 and 2 for the vinyl release. We may continue with the serialized format for the upcoming Chapters, though…”

What are your thoughts on the support acts for this European run?

“We’re fans of both Full of Hell and Code Orange Kids, and have had the honor of sharing the stage (well, a floor) with Full of Hell at a very memorable show in Philadelphia, so we are beyond excited to see them do their thing every night for the duration of the tour. We certainly couldn’t be happier about the line up and are honored to be a part of it.”

Do you still feel ‘connected’ with a band such as Pg. 99?

“I could be wrong, but I think you’re getting at this: do we feel connected to the musical counter-culture that both PG. 99 and CTTS have been associated with over the years. As a band we’ve never been committed to a specific genre or music scene, and we will always allow ourselves the freedom to explore whatever style of expression seems the most relevant to us as our interests evolve. But we certainly resonate with the spirit of creativity that punk rock (and it’s various modern incarnations) has always encouraged, the self-reliance that touring in a DIY manner has always necessitated, and the refuge from a growing “mono” culture (in it’s many industrial and artistic manifestations) that the underground art and music realms often provide.”

Your latest effort was released as a ‘pay what you want’ digital download for a short amount of time. What was the reasoning behind this?

“It is still available as a pay what you like download at CTTS.BANDCAMP.COM. It goes without saying that a large amount of people download music without paying for it, so one of the reasons we chose to release “Decompositions: Volume Number One” this way is that we’d prefer them to get the best quality version of the record possible, directly from us, at whatever cost they feel comfortable with. That way, everyone who is interested can receive high quality downloads of the songs, in the correct order (with correctly spelled song titles), along with every panel of artwork from the booklet, and all of the album info that comes with the physical release. We spend a lot of time on the presentation of our recorded material and their visual components, so utilizing a “payment optional” format ensures that the album will circulate and be received the way we intended.”

What are your main expectations for the upcoming tour?

“We have freed ourselves from expectations. But secretly, we expect the unexpected.”